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Shooting the White House: A Century of Fighting for Access

Harry Truman

As a senator from Missouri, Truman got to know and like the regular Capitol Hill photographers. While all other Senate committees closed their proceedings to photographers, Truman’s committee investigating waste during wartime was open to cameras all the time. It is no surprise, then, that a few weeks after becoming president, while touring the White House pressroom, Truman asked, “Where are the photographers?” Told that they were not allowed, he responded, “I want them in here.” Daily Truman coverage could begin as early as five in the morning, when Truman took his daily walk around the city.